Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-10-30

secured, she is carried on board the
boat and given in charge OF the boy,
| while the land contingent start on their
road rejoicing, in search of another
victim. Before going on, though. they
will lunch on the eggs their prisoner
has left behind. These ecss are q deli.
cacy much priced in Nassau, but pro-
baby by the time they get there they
will have gone bad, and il is only on rsre
occasions, when turtles are caught in
New Providence or its immediate
neighborhood, that they are found in
the market.
"Ihe eggs disposed of, the party
moves on once more, and pcrhap3, Just
at the close of day, catches a hawks
bill. a good deal smaller in size but
quite as valuable, for this time the
value is in the shell, not in the weight.
This is a good days work the family
row home contented, and place their
turtles in a cool place to await the
chance of a ship to carry them up to
Nassau"
Another way OF catching turtles is
the pcgging OF them in shoal water
that is, striking them with a gram or
tvo-prongedspear. This wayis adopted
by vessels engaged in the turtle fish
erie, Lut it can only he ul,d in the
case Of green turtles, as it damages the
shell.
Besides the green turtles AMI hawks
bills, there is another species cl"ed Tie
lubberhead, which is no practical u-e
at all. The flesh OF both the later
species is considered valueless, but the
natives manage TO make substantial
meals out of them all the same.
Most OF the turtles taken are females,
for il is the females only that come
ashore for the purpose of laying their
eggs, the males remaining usually in
much deeper water. The female is
easily distinguished fron the male by
her tail, which is so short rs to be ALSO
lutely nominal, while his usually ave-
RACES six or eight inches in length.
There are only a few places in the
Bahamas where turtles are scored and
faitened, and yet the increase Of
weight peys well for the very slight
outlay of time, trouble, and expei -ence
required. At Governors Harbor, in
the Island Of Eleuthe~a. an Englishman
| (aIr Preston) has established some OF
these storage ponds. They ate natural
lakes, with a slioht rise and fall OF the
tide, the sea-water making its way with
ease through the porous limestone
rocks, OF which the islands are COM
posed.
The turtles are put in here and left
to themselves to grow, the only c re
required being to throw in n few green
leaves occasionly. The ponds are CO.
operative, and every turtle before be-
ing put in is marked with its owne. $
name. When buyer appears a ma
jority of owners must consent b&ore
any turtle can be sod to him. When
their consent has been obtained the
turtles are scooped out with a net, and
the oWne are credited with all those
| registered with their marks.
There are many ways OF cooking Tar
| tics in tie Bahamas, but the tayoi.te
| plan is to make the bulk OF the flesh
INTO a kind Of hash, well doctored with
Io,, and other wines, and then to serve
| It up in the she'll covered with crust, so
| .hst It looks Ike a bind OF meat-p'e.
| His is c-llcd "baked turtle" IL 5
| ycry wei, but be- dc the tule soap j.
Il, - nothing. No alderman in a.
rc.sc.-ion Of his senses would look AZ
il twice.